RBI Rejigs Deputy Governors Portfolios, Michael Patra Heads Monetary Policy Wing

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will head the central bank's monetary policy department that takes calls on interest rates, the RBI announced on Wednesday.

The former executive director of the RBI was appointed to the post of a Deputy Governor of the central bank on Tuesday.

In a reshuffle of portfolios of the four Deputy Governors on Wednesday, Mr Patra was appointed to the post lying vacant since Viral Acharya resigned six months ago.

As Executive Director, Mr Patra was already a member of the RBI's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). He will now handle the monetary policy department, including the forecasting and modelling unit (MPD/MU), financial markets operations department (FMOD), and the financial markets regulation department, according to the RBI.

Besides, the international department and department of economic and policy research, the department of statistics and information Management (DSIM/DIMU), the corporate strategy and budget department (CSBD) and the financial stability unit would also function under his supervision.

The RBI release said that Deputy Governor N.S. Vishwanathan will look after the departments of co-ordination, regulation, communication, enforcement, inspection, and risk monitoring. He has also been assigned the job of the secretary's department

The departments of currency management, information technology and foreign exchange will be looked after by B.P. Kanungo.

The fourth Deputy Governor in question, M.K. Jain will look after departments of supervision, financial inclusion, human resources, among others.